This is the first and probably the last time I’ll link to InfoWars, but they have something that I tend to believe – sent to us by our buddy, Aunty Brat. A Marine who claims that he served with Eddie Ray Routh, the fellow who killed Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield the other night, says that Routh was a mechanic and never left the wire in Iraq – something I’ve suspected since the beginning. Aside from the fact that he was listed in Marine On Line as a unit armorer, according to some of you, folks who go around using PTS for an excuse for all of their bad behavior are usually POGs who never heard a shot fired in anger.

“After seeing this picture I just remembered this guy lived in the same barracks as me in 2007 in Camp Lejeune, N.C., he was definitely NOT a highly trained Marine he was a mechanic in for only about 4 years,” said the Marine.

“My friend deployed to Iraq with Eddie Routh and this guy never even went outside the wire, so the PTSD from combat as the news is saying is unlikely, and this guy was no highly trained Marine as they are also saying in the news,” he added.

The Marine also told us that Routh “was into drugs.”

I’m not saying that because InfoWars says it’s so, it’s the truth, I’m just saying it reinforces what I’ve thought was true since the beginning. Kyle and Littlefield were shot in the back, so I guess that’s one way of overcoming the “not highly trained” thing and reports that his sister said that he did it to steal the truck – not something someone suffering from PTS is likely to do, I would think.

By the way, if you’re inclined to go over to the InfoWars link, stay out of the comments unless you’re into that “war for empire” BS.

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Comments (45)

I stay away from that carnival show of a website. I tend to think that Alex believes about 10% of what he spews. He’s the carny and the rubes eat it up. But having said that, this goes with what I have been thinking all along.

If Routh was known for his proclivity to drugs while in uniform, he most likely used prior to his service and possibly during it, but just didn’t get caught. If he had PTS, it was likely due to pre-service issues that were exacerbated by his failure to adapt to the military lifestyle. The fact that he shot Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield in the back tells me his thinking and actions were not of a not of this planet and was likely drug fueled. He is still a coward in my mind, and the rest of his history will unfold, but it’s not likely we’ll get the whole truth about his background.

The Blaze had a story up about the issue of mental health and the drug abuse. And, still the law was on the side of the perp. I just don’t get it. And the freaks will still put their heads in the sand rather than face the truth. PTSD had nothing to do with this.

He was a punk slacker user who could not adjust to the USMC (as noted above) and he continued his punk slacker user ways after the USMC … subsequently killing two good men for a pick-up truck (by his own ommission).

He has been charged with capital murder in TX.

The procecutor will discover every detail about this POS, it will be presented, his court appointed attorney or his family friend real estate lawyer will do what they can, but in the end the people of TX will have justice.

I don’t know if this is true in other states, but in Illinois, mentally ill can’t be used to avoid a guilty verdict any more. That law was passed some time ago.

The verdict for that kind of plea is ‘guilty but mentally ill’, and while the criminal has to spend time in a psychiatric hospital, if he/she is ever declared no longer mentally ill, must still serve out the entire sentence.

Routh’s sister told the sheriff (according to a news report) that he was ‘crazy’, that she didn’t know what he was going to do, and that she was afraid, which is understandable. Whatever happens, he appears to be quite dangerous to other people but does not seem to be even a little bit confused about anything.

Something isn’t right. No matter what Routh said, he could have stolen a truck or car without killing anyone, particularly killing someone who was trying to help him. I don’t think he killed those two men for the truck. I think the truck was the getaway vehicle from the crime scene.

Sounds like another case of someone who was messed up long before they joined the military. And still people will question bringing “damaged” vets to a firing range. Ignorant folks will still worry about the smell of gunpowder bringing on traumatic flashbacks.

MotherFUCKER! Sadly, and I say this as a 28 year old up for Senior NCO shortly, my generation in the military, is lacking discipline in the ranks. My last deployment, the idiots in the unit I was assigned to all thought of themselves as gangsta’s and thugs and less as Actual Soldiers in a Combat zone. It was sad. Add to it their freaking out about incoming that hit THE OTHER SIDE OF VBC, near Sather, and complaining about slow Internet in their CHU’s and ‘shitty’ food at the 1st CAV DFAC, and I spent that tour as one angry NCO. There was no retraining these idiots. Eddy Ray seems like the exact same type and it’s sad and aggravating. As someone of similar age, I guess there is something wrong with my generation. Then again, I enlisted at 17, so I’ve been at this a while and learned discipline the hard way…

Nothing about what has been “reported” is making sense. I think the media jumped to conclusions like they usually do when it comes to anything involving veterans/military. I’m no expert but PTSD doesn’t equate to killing people by shooting them in the back, then fleeing the scene because you know you did something wrong, then bragging about it to people you know, and theft. As a Marine infantryman I was crushed to find out another Marine did this. Now that the whole PTSD angle has been played up only to find out this guy was a super POG just infuriates me.

This whole thing sounds like 1st degree murder so somebody will remember this mouth breathing waste of space.

I agree with the above poster – I don’t think it was grand theft auto, I think it was a wacked out druggie following the paranoid voices in his head. And just in case anyone thinks that is an attempt at a defense, I think the death penalty would be absolutely perfect for such a thing. Call me heartless…

In that part of Texas, they’re pretty strait forward when it comes to prosecuting the law and they don’t dance around it like they do in other states. The mental health arguement may be brought up, but I’m sure the Texans will send him to Huntsville State Prison with a lethal injection in his future anyway.

I was under the impression that a Marine who was a mechanic shot was trained to shoot as well as a Marine who was an infantryman. Or infantrywoman.

Given the prevalance of PTS and TBI and that one need not have been in hand-to-hand combat to get these, what is the likelihood Routh actually has PTS?

Since I missed Conspiracy Tuesday, my belated entry is Kyle was a positive symbol of the US of A, the military, the 2d Amendment, and gun ownership. Given the Prognazi tactic of programming the mentally ill and sending them off to target innocents and those like Kyle, who was Routh associated with?

Conversely, what did Messrs Kyle and Littlefield see that could not be otherwise handled?

Reminder to self: The media doesn’t report events very well, at least not without sensationalization, innacurate information and half truths. Remember the details we received about the Sandy Hook shooter? …and we still don’t have all the facts.

Other than the tragic loss of Chris Kyle and his friend, I’m speculating on what’s true and accurate about the shooter and what isn’t. I’m guessing my instincts about this will be spot on, but I’ll keep my mouth shut for now.

This is exactly what happens from the abuse of PTS by those who never set foot outside the wire and those who never set foot in a combat zone. Seems like a lot of people leaving the military take advantage of the system and claim PTS for benefits when the most stressful thing they encountered was that the PX ran out of licky chewies and pogey bait.

Every so often I read a profile of a veteran in my local paper where they claim PTS from their service, when they never saw front line combat. The veterans themselves perpetuate this myth about the deranged and unhinged veteran “damaged” by PTS, when so many of them seemingly game the system.

You can believe this much too. The Texas Rangers are probably nit picking every little bit of his life right now and more likely have crawled so far up his butt, he will wish that he had a bad case of hemorrhoids. Looks I was pretty much on target with my comment yesterday on the reasons for homicide, too.

It’s time for a reframing of the conversation. There is a quantitative and qualitative difference between PTS and PTSD. There are also significant differences in the range of symptoms and experiences in combat related PTS and PTSD and those conditions brought on by other events. Some of those events are simply chemical, often self induced with recreational drug use.

Back in the day, we used to say someone who took illegal drugs and then went off the deep end was simply bat shit crazy. Sad? Not to me. Just another for whom the expression ” should be required to carry around a potted plant to replace the oxygen he is wasting” was invented.

I think that this is shaping up to be more and more like a set up. Unfortunately, because who was involved it is being made out to be more than what it was. Routh, planned on robbing them, but I don’t know if he was planning on killing them (yes I know stupid bordering on suicidal). Hell why is it that every time a veteran is involved in a crime does it have to do with his “mental state”? You know I have met some pretty shady vets in my time, who have used their “mental state” as an excuse. I also know some vets who are just plain shady. Who is to say this Routh guy isn’t shady? I have seen people do way more stupid stuff, hell remember two months ago that 18 year old jumping Dakota Meyer?

You can’t always blame the system. You know I am sick of people blaming their choices on PTSD. I have made some bad choices and I have paid for them, but they were choices. No matter how many nightmares I have or how tightly wound I get I won’t make the choice to murder two people and steal a truck. I have done some things that I am not proud of mainly because of my shitty attitude, but I still have choices.

PTS is a load of hog wash. how is it that no one out of the 3rd Ranger bat ever claimed PTSD? we saw combat daily when we were there. i know countless spec ops guys that have seen as much if not more then me, yet do not claim PTSD. in fact, as a general rule, every one i see at the VA hospital claiming PTSD is a POG that never left the wire. im walking around with a shrapnel blown out knee, a destroyed shoulder, and my back broken in 3 places listening to these POGs talk about how bad they had it and how scarry shit was when the most traumatic event they suffered was the internet going out so they couldnt down load porn! PTSD is an excuse weaklings use to claim VA disability. i would happily trade my real injuries for their imaginary ones.

Maybe what is doctrinally known as PTS is more a feeling of shame for being over there and coming to the realization that you didn’t do shit to help those who were fighting the fight. I’m sure there are those who are legitimately suffering, but for the ones who willingly put themselves repeatedly in dangerous situations, knowing they could be killed and still doing it for a higher purpose, they are probably a little more mentally strong than your average mouth breather.

I’m a pogue, BTW. I don’t have PTS. But, I also don’t like staying on base when I’m deployed, so I get out. Ain’t hard. No Sh*t true story: Craziest thing I ever heard was a commo SSG in Iraq saying “Y’all really itching to go out there? Go take a look at those trucks blowed up in the lot out there and tell me you want to deal with that.” The reply, almost unanimously from the LRS unit attached to us was “It’s our f**cking job, idiot!” It was at that moment I regretted not cutting my teeth in the Infantry before doing something else in the Army.

I did my fair share of Convoy Escort missions in A-stan, and every night we were in the rear, we had to put up with the REMFs talking crap about how they would beat us at HALO, volleyball, softball,…… But the moment I said to one of them “Hey, if you’re such a badass, why don’t you join us on a mission or three?” their ringleader’s response was “NO WAY, I’M [pogue MOS], YOU TELL ME TO GO OUTSIDE THE WIRE, AND I’LL GO STRAIGHT TO IG!!”. Yeah, they liked to do the “gangsta” act, and I see them as the type that came back and milked every benefit they could, it makes me want to puke!

Smitty: exactly what I was saying last night! One thing I severely dislike about my MOS, is that, well we have many tactically proficient NCOs and Soldiers in Civil Affairs, folks who will never hesitate to run toward gunfire, shoot back, or look at the utter devastation that has been wrought on a people or a landscape, and not bat an eye, but those of us like that are often outweighed by the useless FOBBIT assclowns, the CAB chasers, the Staff fucks (no offense to Battlestaff personnel), and all the deployment queens who expect everything to be rosey and handed to them on a silver platter. And my compadres wonder why CA has such a bad rap with the mainstream military, I shake my head a lot of the time… I don’t know why I don’t just go to another MOS, it’s sad, because we have living examples of all the failures at life you see on deployment.

Lucky, don’t matter where you go, there will be idiots in the army. Humans will be humans. I was Infantry and we had shitbags as well, granted they were always transferred out quicklike when one arose. Now imagine being an infantryman and not be able to fight the good fight or leave the excepet for retarded ass security. This was my last deployment when things were drawing down and it drove me crazy, and ultimatly drove me out of the Army by not reenlisting because I could see where the army was headed. Fuckers whining about not being able to get their CIB’s, granted they wanted to go out there and earn them, and retarded command micro manageing everything and preventing us from doing what we were trained to do. Utter horseshit.

As for the OT, the shitbag Marine reservaist was a POS who never left the wire, much less saw any combat. I garuntee it. How does this clown rate PTSD? He doesn’t. He is a tweaker who murder an American Hero for a truck for drug money, in his own words. “Sold his soul for a truck”. I’d have him shot if I still had any authority and could.

Sooo… I don’t go around talking about this much but I feel perhaps I can add to the convo. I was diagnosed with some pretty high PTSD before I got out of the USMC. Now, I was forced to go to the doc when I about beat the hell out of a couple SNCO’s because I thought they were incompetent (they were) and were trying to tell me how to do my job. I don’t use that as an excuse, but they made me go so I am trying to point out I didn’t ask for this.

I was an 0311(Infantry/Rifleman) in the USMC. I deployed to Iraq in 2003, 2004, 2005-06. 2 years total (give or take a month) in a 3 year time span. My first deployment was the push to Baghdad and the subsequent SASO ops in Karbala- total of 9 months including the 2.5 months we sat in Kuwait playing with each other before crossing the border. Saw the usual shit you can imagine an infantryman in the USMC to see in an invasion of a country. Desensitized me a bit, but I f’n loved my job at that point.

We go back to the states and are told we wouldn’t be going back. “Marines don’t occupy..That’s the Army’s job”, we were told. Well, a month later we were informed we would be going back in Feb ’04. We got 4 months at home and sent back in. Didn’t even process the last go around and we were right back into fight mode. This deployment was pretty bad. We were in Al Qaim/Husaybah/Karabilah/Sadah area in Al Anbar on the Syrian border. I lost 3 guys in my squad in one ambush, a few others here and there through the 7 month deployment, and we lost Cpl Jason Dunham from one of our platoons in the Company. (FYI- the MOH recipient.) We took them all hard, but by the time we left we knew we were going back again. That whole “Marines don’t occupy…” BS wasn’t the case any longer.

A year later, after a ton of training and a dumbass extension of contract on my part to deploy again in late 2005, we were sent to Ramadi. About a month into the deployment, I was hit with an IED. It was pretty bad: usual shrapnel/banged up limbs/loss of consciousness/concussion, but overall I was lucky. I was just unable to run any longer and basically drove a HUMVEE the rest of the time once they decided I could resume full duty.

Anyways, I say all this because it really irks me when other;s claim PTSD to cover up for their actions. I didn’t want it, but apparently I got it. However, I have NEVER used it as an excuse for anything. I got my ass taken care of so I wouldn’t just become another “crazy vet went off the deep end”. If this dude was really an armorer or mechanic who never left the wire, was on drugs and is now using PTSD as an excuse to pull this BS- I might turn into one of them vets and go after him.

You see, I did all that BS and thought I was above the effects it could have on me. I didn’t want to admit I didn’t have anything wrong with me. I would hide it with alcohol when I got off work until one day it blew up in my face and I had this PTSD diagnosis pinned on me. I didn’t even think it was a real issue. Figured peeps made it up to get out of things. However, I learned it IS real. I also learned it is treatable if you WANT help and you are able to live a life at a high level.

I was medically retired in 2010- 3 years ago from last week. I will graduate from college at 32 with honors in May of this year. All this after going through some crazy BS and being pinned as having this stupid mental disorder.

I ask this: I was a grunt. No shame in being a POG, and I understand things affect individuals differently, but I GUARANTEE I saw a lot more than he did. Did it effect me? Yup. Did I let it rule my life? Almost. But some SSGTs forced me to get help and I am glad they did.

Be careful not to write off PTSD as the real deal. However, don’t ever cut anyone any slack when they use it as an excuse for something. It’s part of life. OF COURSE WE ARE DIFFERENT!. It’s how you choose to live with it that is key>

Sorry for the essay. I just hoped I could add to the convo with some first-hand knowledge on the subject.

I have to say, I know I went through nothing compared to my brothers/sisters who frequent this blog. I have the utmost respect for those who went through DS/Vietnam/Korea/WWII/WWI and everything in-between.

I think the reason a lot of this is popping up now is the prolonged exposure of combat over a few years. I am no expert, but I suspect a large majority of PTSD diagnoses are mis-catagorized. I also know the older war-fighters hate the whole idea of PTSD because they have “been through more” and made it fine. I wish it didn’t exist. Trust me. Semper FI

Speaking of PSTD, I tend to stay away from people. I have trouble letting people close to me for the pain of losing them. I have never comitted a illegal act because of PSTD.Yes I have throught of taking some deserving people out of the gene pool but who hasn’t ? Anextiery attacks,nightmares and night sweats, no voilence.

Guess it effect people differently and all that. I think the difference is we are aware we have issues and fight back. For those who refuse they might have actually changed a bit, well, they will have the biggest problems assimilating.

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About thisainthell

We are all military combat veterans and we write primarily from that perspective. Everyone who writes here has a Combat Infantry Badge, a Combat Medic Badge, a Combat Action Badge or a Combat Action Ribbon. We write about issues that matter to combat veterans..read more »